I’m not a programmer so I can’t speak to how hard this is, but I think it would be a big asset to building user base if there was a neutral sign up website that wasn’t a specific instance. It would basically choose an instance for you automatically and skip that part. I figure there could be some list of general purpose instances compiled that are all fair game and the site would try to spread the load across instances.
Average user doesn’t care about federation, and all of that complexity is a big turn off. I know because I almost didn’t sign up myself because of that. Having to pick a team just to get in the door feels kinda bad.
I was in the same boat as you regarding signing up. I also agree with you that the concept of federation might be confusing for new users. Just gave up at the promt to explore other instances (in lemmy.world sign up) and signed up to lemmy.world.
I ended up where I did because I wanted the closest thing to no instance possible, and the great folks running this one try to do just that. It’s fediverse Switzerland lol
Having to explain federation is kind of the issue in my opinion. This idea wouldn’t be to remove the normal sign up process, it would be a way to side step it entirely for those who don’t care about the technology aspect of it and just want to be part of the community.
If you want to pick your own instance or suggest one, that would still exist. This would just be an alternative. It would also help to avoid everyone gravitating towards the largest instance, because it would try to load balance people automatically.
Having to explain federation is kind of the issue in my opinion.
I don’t, nowadays, I just point to piefed.zip
This would just be an alternative
The issue is that there aren’t really instances that are similar enough to be considered interchangeable. They all have their specificity, be it admin style, defederation, downvotes enabled or disabled, front-ends available, etc.
Yeah that’s a good point. Maybe it’s too different for it to work. I maintain that complexity will continue to push people away, though. If instances are that different we might have better luck referring to them as their own sites. That would just increase the flocking to single mega instances though. The most important feature of any social media site is who’s on it.
I would agree with that. I think the ability to spin up new instances if something goes wrong with a big one is still a great feature even if one gains dominance.
I don’t know how hard account migration is right now, but that’s probably another UX thing to make easy if the devs decide to work on it.
I’m not a programmer so I can’t speak to how hard this is, but I think it would be a big asset to building user base if there was a neutral sign up website that wasn’t a specific instance. It would basically choose an instance for you automatically and skip that part. I figure there could be some list of general purpose instances compiled that are all fair game and the site would try to spread the load across instances.
Average user doesn’t care about federation, and all of that complexity is a big turn off. I know because I almost didn’t sign up myself because of that. Having to pick a team just to get in the door feels kinda bad.
I was in the same boat as you regarding signing up. I also agree with you that the concept of federation might be confusing for new users. Just gave up at the promt to explore other instances (in lemmy.world sign up) and signed up to lemmy.world.
I ended up where I did because I wanted the closest thing to no instance possible, and the great folks running this one try to do just that. It’s fediverse Switzerland lol
Having to explain federation is kind of the issue in my opinion. This idea wouldn’t be to remove the normal sign up process, it would be a way to side step it entirely for those who don’t care about the technology aspect of it and just want to be part of the community.
If you want to pick your own instance or suggest one, that would still exist. This would just be an alternative. It would also help to avoid everyone gravitating towards the largest instance, because it would try to load balance people automatically.
I don’t, nowadays, I just point to piefed.zip
The issue is that there aren’t really instances that are similar enough to be considered interchangeable. They all have their specificity, be it admin style, defederation, downvotes enabled or disabled, front-ends available, etc.
Yeah that’s a good point. Maybe it’s too different for it to work. I maintain that complexity will continue to push people away, though. If instances are that different we might have better luck referring to them as their own sites. That would just increase the flocking to single mega instances though. The most important feature of any social media site is who’s on it.
It’s okay if they join one instance. I’m not a fan of the LW dominance, but it’s better to have another LW user than no user at all
I would agree with that. I think the ability to spin up new instances if something goes wrong with a big one is still a great feature even if one gains dominance.
I don’t know how hard account migration is right now, but that’s probably another UX thing to make easy if the devs decide to work on it.